THE ELABORATION OF THE CONCEPT OF ECONOMIC DEMOCRACY AS THE REACTION TO THE DEEPENING SOCIAL INEQUALITY IN THE U.S. IN THE LATE XIX CENTURY

Abstract

Introduction.The subject of this article is the development of the concept of economic democracy in the United States at the end of the XIX century. At that time, there were strong structural shifts in the American economy – small entrepreneurs collapsed, and at the same time giant corporations and trusts arose that began to dominate the country’s economic life. For many contemporaries, this was unacceptable, since the majority of ordinary Americans believed in the principle of equal opportunities, to open their own business and not to depend on other people and on the state, and the existence of monopolies precluded the penetration of other competitors into their sphere. That is why at this time some intellectuals began to talk about the fact that democracy and equality are necessary not only in the political, but also in the economic sphere. To achieve this goal, they offered various means: from regulating the activities of large companies to nationalizing entire sectors of the economy.Methods.In this article the author used the methodology of intellectual history, which, when studying a particular ideology or concept, involves identifying its origins, analyzing its development in the space-time continuum and the final result.Results.This work is the first study in the domestic literature in which, based on a wide range of sources, the reasons for the negative perception of the social consequences of the formation of large companies in the economy are shown, the main features of the concept of economic democracy are revealed as a response to the deepening social inequality in American society.Conclusions.The author came to the conclusion that for the first time the ideologists of farmers’ protest movements began talking about a democratic reorganization of economic life in the United States. The main goal of all agrarian movements was to transform America into a society of small independent producers and landowners who have the same rights, equal property status and economic opportunities.